Can Debbie Dingell Continue Michigan Family’s Long Record of Congressional Service?

Debbie Dingell is ending speculation that she’ll seek to replace her husband, the longest-serving U.S. congressman ever, with a three-stop campaign announcement tour in southeast Michigan Friday.

Rep. John Dingell, a Democrat who has served in Congress for more than 58 years, cited partisan gridlock when he announced Monday that he would not seek an unprecedented 30th term.

If she’s successful, Debbie Dingell will be the third member of the Dingell family to serve in Congress. John Dingell was elected in a special election in 1955 to replace his father, John Dingell Sr., who had served since 1933 and died of a heart attack while in office.

Together, the father and son held the American record at 81 years for the longest consecutive service for a single family.

Dingell, 60, will kick off her announcement tour in her hometown of Dearborn, the Detroit News reports. She is the first Democrat in the heavily Democratic 12th District to announce her candidacy in the Aug. 5 primary election.

Union Conservatives founder Terry Bowman, a UAW worker and Ypsilanti resident, is expected to announce Monday that he will seek the Republican nomination for the 12th District. Bowman was one of the leaders in the campaign to make Michigan a right-to-work state.

John and Debbie Dingell married in 1981 and became known as a politcal power couple in Washington, D.C. and metro Detroit.

Debbie Dingell also plans stops Friday in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti.